American Academy of Private Physicians Board of Directors

Marcy Zwelling-Aamot, MD, President

Marcy Zwelling-Aamot, M.D. is the current president of AAPP and a respected member of the California medical community and a prominent voice in the crusade to improve the broken healthcare system. Dr. Zwelling-Aamot is an actively double board-certified physician, a notable achievement even among the best doctors in the nation. Marcy graduated with honors from Wellesley College and studied medicine at New York University Medical School where she graduated at the top of her class. Dr. Zwelling arrived in Los Angeles in 1980 and completed her residency training in both Internal and Emergency Medicine at Harbor-UCLA. She achieved board certification in both specialties and went on to become boarded in utilization review and to work in Critical Care. In 2004 Dr. Zwelling-Aamot dramatically reduced the size of her practice, adopting the Concierge Medicine model in order to provide a higher level of access and attention to a smaller number of patients. “Choice Care provides my patients a level of access and attention that would be impossible to sustain in a traditional practice with 3-4000 patients. My commitment to my Choice Care patients goes well beyond treating them when they are sick. I act as their trusted health advocate as they navigate the healthcare system. I work hard to keep my patients looking good and feeling great… In sickness and health I do my utmost to give my patients a better day.”

Thomas LaGrelius, M.D.

Dr. LaGrelius, Chairman of the Board for AAPP, is a board certified specialist in Family Medicine first certified in 1977 and in Geriatric Medicine first certified in 1990, he completed his most recent Family Medicine Recertification Board Exam in 2004 and Geriatric Re-Certification in 2000. He graduated from the University of Washington Medical School in Seattle and served his internship and residency at the University of Southern California Medical Center. He is a staff member at two Southern California hospitals, Torrance Memorial Medical Center, where he served for six terms as Chairman of the Department of Family Practice, and Little Company of Mary Hospital also in Torrance. Dr. LaGrelius is a member and Fellow of the American Academy of Family Practice, sits on the Board of Directors of the Los Angeles County Medical Association and in the California Medical Association’s House of Delegates. He is president of Los Angeles County Medical Association’s Ninth District, is the immediate past president of South Bay Independent Physicians Medical Group Inc. (SBIP) and the founder and Chair Emeritus of the Independent Doctors Traditional Practice Association of the South Bay (INDOC). He is a Clinical Instructor of Family Medicine at the University Southern California School of Medicine and a Director on the Board of Consumers for Health Care Choices. He has been active in the struggle for consumer directed health care empowering patients for most of his career, writing and speaking frequently on that and related topics. He operates a retainer medical practice, Skypark Preferred Family Care, in Torrance, California. He is married, has two daughters and a son and lives in Redondo Beach.

David Hilgers, JD

David W. Hilgers is a Partner at Brown McCarroll, L.L.P. and leads the firm’s Health Care Section. Mr. Hilgers is a graduate of the University of Texas School of Law and received his B.A. from Swarthmore College. He is a member of the Order of the Coif, and was a briefing attorney to the Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court. Mr. Hilgers has practiced law for more than thirty years. His primary focus is on health care, corporate, and administrative law. Mr. Hilgers represents healthcare providers, including physicians, dentists, health systems, managed care organizations, long-term care facilities, multispecialty groups, hospitals, hospital districts, and community mental health and mental retardation centers. Mr. Hilgers is a member of the American Bar Association’s Health Law Council and is a regular speaker on issues surrounding the healthcare industry. He was honored in Chicago in November 2004 as one of ten Nightingale’s Healthcare News’ Outstanding Physician Practice Lawyers in the United States; Best of Business Attorney, Health Care Law, Austin Business Journal, 2005; and Super Lawyer, Health Care Law, named by Law and Politics Media, Inc. and published in Texas Monthly, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006. Also serving as the Chairman of the American Bar Association’s Health Law Section.

Gary Price, M.D., FACP

Dr. Gary Price created the first concierge practice in Florida and one of the first in the country in 1998. His practice has been a resounding success and has inspired several other Southwest Florida physicians to follow suit. Dr. Price is Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology (practicing primary care exclusively), is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, and is a member of the Florida Medical Association and numerous other professional organizations. In 2007 he was elected to the Board of Directors of the National Society for Innovative Medical Practice Design (AAPP), where he will strive to be part of the movement to elevate the quality of healthcare at a national level. Dr. Price has been in practice in Fort Myers, Florida since 1987. He is on staff at all the major hospitals in Lee County, where he has distinguished himself as Chief of Medicine at Southwest Florida Regional Medical Center, Primary Care Division Chief at Lee Memorial Health System, Medical Director for Internal Medicine at Lee Memorial Health Systems, Chairman of the Lee Physician Group Executive Committee, Founder and Medical Director of Primary Healthcare Specialists, and numerous other accomplishments. After graduating with honors from Hofstra University in New York and being inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, Dr. Price received his Medical Doctorate from the State University of New York – Downstate Medical Center in 1982. He then completed a residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Miami, followed by a fellowship in Gastroenterology at the University of Texas – Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. Since creating his concierge practice, Dr. Price has devoted the last decade to elevating the quality of healthcare to the highest level in Fort Myers and hopes through AAPP to be part of the movement to raise the bar at a national level. His wife Marlene is a Certified Public Account who manages his practice. They have been happily married since 1979 and have three children.

Charles C. Whitney, M.D., AAFP

Dr. Whitney graduated from Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia in 1990 and completed his family practice residency at David Grant United States Air Force Medical Center in 1993. He is board-certified in the specialties of Family Medicine (1993) and Sports Medicine (1999). His experience includes seven years as an Air Force physician and six years at a University of Pennsylvania Health System practice before establishing his retainer practice Revolutionary Health Services in 2003. Dr. Whitney recognizes that our country’s healthcare system is in crisis. Patients need a true medical home where they have a skilled primary care physician to care for 90% of their problems. When outside help is needed, their physician needs to be trusted to be their advocate in maneuvering through the labyrinth we call the healthcare system. Unfortunately, fewer quality physicians are choosing primary care because working for insurance companies means lower reimbursements, more overhead, and more patients, all resulting in less ability to be their patients’ medical quarterback. His vision is for AAPP to be a leader in educating our nation that the only “cure” to the healthcare crisis is for doctors to once again work for our patients in a direct pay practice as occurred before the 1960s. By equipping physicians to do this, they can recapture the joy of practicing medicine. Both patients and doctors will be the winners.

Jordan Shlain, M.D.

Dr. Jordan Shlain founded San Francisco On Call Medical Group in 1997 because he wanted to run a medical practice that puts a priority on the doctor-patient relationship. During his residency, Dr. Shlain had the opportunity to provide a house call for an elderly patient – an experience that made a lasting impression. He realized he was able to spend the amount of time with a patient necessary to offer the best care in the comfort of the patient’s own home. Dr. Shlain found that this unhurried, more comprehensive way of practicing medicine is consistent with the natural instincts of a doctor, namely being concerned first and foremost with the care of each patient. It became clear to him that the ‘housecall’ could benefit many other people and he soon became the physician of choice for the hospitality industry as well as the maritime industry. Today, the top hotels in San Francisco call on SF On Call Medical Group as well as the cruise lines, airlines and consulates. However, the largest part of the practice are Bay Area residents who do not wish to visit the Emergency Room or are looking for a convenient, same-day medical visit at their home or their office. Dr. Shlain is also an assistant clinical professor at the U.C.S.F. Medical Center, and a medical economics lecturer at U.C. Berkeley. He is also the Northern California medical director for Lufthansa Airlines, and is on the board of directors for the San Francisco Medical Society. He received a B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley and an M.D. from Georgetown University Medical School.

John Blanchard, M.D.

John A. Blanchard, M.D. is recognized as an expert and national leader in the “concierge medicine” movement. He speaks and lectures nationally, advocating the improvement of health care quality and service through a direct financial relationship between physicians and their patients. Dr. Blanchard is the co-founder and Past President of the Society for Innovative Medical Practice Design. He is board certified by the American Academy of Family Physicians in the specialty of Family Medicine. He is a member of the American Medical Association, the Michigan Academy of Family Physicians, the Michigan State Medical Society, and he also serves on the Legislative Committee of the Oakland County Medical Society. Dr. Blanchard has full staff privileges at William Beaumont Hospital, where he completed three years of postgraduate residency training and served as chief resident. He graduated with clinical honors from the Wayne State University School of Medicine in 1996, and he graduated with honors from Michigan State University, with a Bachelor’s Degree in Physiology. Dr. Blanchard is a practicing “concierge” physician and managing partner of Premier Private Physicians, P.L.C. in Michigan. The practice currently has 3 physicians. Their primary goal is to re-establish the direct communication and interaction between patient and doctor, making the physicians more accessible to their patients. They have found that this method of practice dramatically improves the quality of health care and service they are capable of delivering to patients. Premier Private Physicians is regarded as one of the first concierge practices to open nationally.

Karen Josephson, M.D.

Dr. Josephson is a board certified internist and geriatrician. She received her BA in Political Science from the State University of New York at Binghamton and her MD from Case Western Reserve University in Ohio. Dr. Josephson conducted her Residency in internal medicine at the Jewish Hospital of St. Louis, MO. She has practiced and taught internal medicine and geriatric medicine at the USC Keck School of Medicine for 12 years. In addition to belonging to AAPP, Dr. Josephson is a member of the Gerontological Society of America, the American Geriatrics Society, and the California Association of Long Term Care Medicine. Dr. Josephson works closely with agencies promoting health and wellness, such as Life Span, which produces Fitness Forever, an exercise program designed for seniors. She also gives numerous public presentations on issues concerning senior care for physicians and the community. When not at work, she enjoys biking and hiking with her husband and 2 boys.